BG-PX
Board Game Player Experience
Board Game Player Experience (BG-PX) is a structured system used to evaluate a board game’s player experience. A player's experience with a board game consists of many factors such as art, graphic design, physical components, rule books and interactions with other players. The BG-UX system scores these various perspectives to get an overall PX assessment.BG-PX has 100 criteria that are used to score the game. Each category and individual criteria are based on best practices in their related fields. This includes fields like Information Architecture, Content Strategy, Game Design, User Experience Design, Graphic Design, Accessibility and Human Factors. The purpose is to help game designers better understand the experience players will have while learning and playing their game.The field of User Experience (UX for short) is all about researching how users respond to different user interfaces. Board games are a lot like user interfaces and many of the concepts translate cleanly to game design. This framework seeks to apply those useful principles to board games.
The BG-PX System
10 Categories - 100 Criteria
At the heart of the system are 10 categories, each with 10 criteria. These categories were carefully selected so that a given game can be considered from many possible perspectives. In this way, game designers can gain greater empathy for their players and create better games.
A Score Card
Each BG-PX assessment includes a scorecard which gives a high level view of how the game was scored. Each of the 10 categories will have a score associated with it. This will help you to understand where the games biggest problems are from a player-experience standpoint.
Detailed Findings
The final report will include 60-80 pages of detailed analysis. Details will be provided for every metric with a low score. It will also include details on some of the metrics where the game scored well so you get a better sense of the games strengths.
Relevant Examples
Sometimes it's easiest to understand how to improve something by looking at some well done examples. When relevant, the BG-PX results will include demonstrations of the given topic from other board games.
The 10 Categories
Information Architecture
Does the game’s content make it easier to play?
Rulebook
Does the rulebook effectively teach and support gameplay?
Mechanics
Do the mechanics work smoothly and support the game’s theme?
Game Features
Do the game’s elements create a positive experience?
Usability
Are the game’s systems intuitive and easy to use?
Understandable
Is it easy to understand how to play the game?
Iconography
Does the game effectively use icons?
Aesthetics
Is the visual style appealing and appropriate?
Accessibility
Is the game accessible to all players?
Form Factor
Does the game addresses human factors effectively?
Tailored Solutions
One great feature of the BG-PX system is that it is modular. Some games can benefit from the full BG-PX assessment, while others are only ready for part of it. As such your audit can be custom tailored to the categories that will help you most. Some options include:
Is my game pitch ready?
Do you want to have your game ready to pitch to publishers? If so, these categories would suit you best:- Information Architecture
- Rulebook
- Mechanics
- Game Features
- Usable
- Understandable
Does my game have usability problems?
Are you in the development phase and getting a game ready to publish? Your BG-PX might include:- Rulebook
- Usable
- Understandable
- Iconography
- Accessible
- Form Factor
Want a quick component review?
Do you just need a quick check to make sure your components are not going to cause major problems with the player experience? This set of categories will be helpful:- Rulebook
- Iconography
- Aesthetics
- Form Factor
Common Questions
Is my game ready?
Thanks to the modular nature of BG-PX the system can be used to a game at almost any stage. The selected categories can help you to optimize the player experience as you develop the game.
How long does it take?
Typically an assessment takes 10-14 days. This includes time to learn, play and assess the game.
How are the results delivered?
Each assessment includes a 40-80 page PDF. If needed, a walkthrough of the results with your team can be done (typically in about 60-120 minutes).
Sample Reports
The following sample report should give a clear view of what to expect.
Splendor
Can a game as incredible as Splendor be improved? Check out the full report to find out. This audit used the full BG-PX system.
More samples coming soon...
These reviews are independent, and BG-PX is not connected to any of these companies or products.
Who is behind BG-PX?
My name is Patrick McNeil and my professional background is in User-Experience Design where I have worked for the last 25+ years. I have been critiquing design work for a very long time. As a teacher, a blogger, an author of 6 books on web design, author of UX Methods book, and through hundreds of published articles. Breaking down design work is what I do and I am super excited to apply this to a field I truly love...board games.I am also an indie game designer. You can find all my work at McMeeple Games. I publish all my work on The Game Crafter and I especially love to design with my kids.
Get in touch
Interested in getting your game assessed? Drop me a note and we can chat.
